NGO shows Corporation road work steeped in corruption

CHENNAI: Alleging that a corrupt nexus is operating the bus route road (BRR) department of the

Greater Chennai Corporation

, social activism group Arappor Iyakkam on Tuesday claimedthat civicbody officials had misappropriated funds while relaying Devanathan street road in Mandaveli.

Armed with RTI information acquiredfrom thecorporation, Arappor convener

Jayaram Venkatesan

saidthat there was discrepancy in the manner in which funds were utilised by the corporation to first relay and then repair the damaged Devanathan street.

Replying to Arappor's RTI query in September, the corporation said that Devanathan street was relaid by contractor J Santhanam on May 30, 2016 at a cost of Rs 36.97 lakh. “In July 2016,

Metrowater

dug up the road to replace old sewage pipes. In September 24, 2016, the corporation engaged MPK enterprises to finish patchwork on the road at a cost of Rs 2 lakh,” saidVenkatesan.

In this scenario, the corporation then issued a cheque dated December 3, 2016 and bearing a value of around Rs 26 lakh to J Santhanam for patchwork. “A patchwork isshown to have been done at 70% cost of the original bill when the road was relaid. There was no patchwork executed in December 2016. They have falsified details and are swindling tax payer's money,” Venkatesan said.

However, corporation downplayedthecharges and said that all of the money has been accounted for. “Santhanam was issuedthework order to relay Devanathan street under the 180 BRR relaying project of 2014-15. After it was relaid, Metrowater approachedusfor road cut permission to replace old sewage pipes, which we initially refused but had to agree due to political pressure,” said L Nandakumar, superintending engineer, stormwater drain department.

Nandakumar, who was in charge of BRR during the period where Arappor alleges corruption, suggested that the RTI replieswere a "miscommunication."

“Metrowater deposited around Rs 27 lakh as road cut charges because they had to excavate the road. It is from this fund that wehave paid Santhanam,” Nandakumar said.

“The Rs2 lakhwork was initiated at the zone level, and not BRR, to correct misaligned chambers at the intersections where Devanathan street meets St Mary's road and Venkatakrishna road,” he added.

Venkatesan contended that MPK is shown to have did patchwork on 380 sq.m or nearly one-third of the entire road, for a small contract value. Deputy Commissioner (works) M

Govinda Rao

told TOI that the allegations will be investigated. "If any wrongdoing is established, we will take action against the concerned officer," Rao said